Pieces of Ed - Going Home
by Bishie Huntress
Summary: Ed believes he's finally found a way home. Post CoS, sort of. Part of my "Pieces" collection.


Ed stared at the glowing portal before him. There it was: the culmination of all his efforts. Finally, _finally_, he was going home. It was what he'd always wanted, what he'd dreamt about ever since coming to this forsaken land years ago, what he'd had a taste of when Eckhart killed his father to create a gate between worlds. Al would be waiting for him. He knew this like he knew his own name. This was _all_ he wanted, so why was he hesitating?

"It's okay, you know. All you do is put one foot in front of the other and step into the light."

Ed turned, seeing the transparent image of Roy Mustang standing behind him. He laughed a little, sad and soft. "I know that, idiot. I just…" He turned and stared into the circle of shimmering light again.

It was strange. Somehow, this man who had been such a thorn in his side growing up had become his friend. Ed had turned around one day to find Mustang, just standing behind him and looking a little lost. His first thought was that he was hallucinating. In fact, he still hadn't ruled that out, but they were working with the theory that Mustang was dead and haunting Ed, instead. This wasn't a particularly pleasant thought, either, but it let Ed continue with the thought that his sanity might still be intact.

The man had bothered him incessantly, a fact which led Ed to believe more strongly in the ghost theory. Why in two worlds would his brain give him hallucinations of someone so blasted annoying? It was smarter than that. Of course, if the bastard was dead…

He shook his head, ridding himself of that thought, too. Mustang couldn't remember anything specific, himself, just flashes of light and the sound of explosions. As useless as ever, Ed often thought.

"What will happen to you?" he asked without turning.

"I guess we won't know until you _walk through it_," Roy said pointedly.

"Right. You go first."

Roy walked up next to him and folded his arms across his chest, looking down at Ed. It irked the younger man that he was _still_ shorter. "You know, your soul should be as shriveled and tiny as your heart," he said thoughtfully.

"Are you scared?" Roy asked curiously.

"I'm never scared!" Ed proclaimed. "I am, however, cautious."

"Yes, and whatever effect your little portal there has on me will surely be the same for you."

"Who's so tiny that even their transmutations can only be seen through a magnifying glass?" Ed shouted.

"No one said that."

"Well, whatever. I'm ready, so I guess I'll be going, now." Ed took a step forward.

"Wait," Roy said, putting out an ethereal hand. Ed paused and looked at him. Roy cleared his throat. "Look, just in case I don't go, too…" He stopped, not sure what to say next.

Ed waited. "Not getting any younger, here," he said finally.

"Just… good luck," Roy said, looking like that wasn't what he'd wanted to say at all. "Oh! And tell Hawkeye I'm sorry. If I'm dead, that is."

"Oh, uh… sure. Thanks." Ed looked down at the floor, then back up at his unlikely comrade. "You know, you could walk through with me," he suggested quietly.

"I can't really explain it, but I have the feeling that, if I go through that portal with you, we won't end up in the same place. I don't know what will happen to me when you do, but… Well, I'm at least familiar with this place."

Ed's shoulders slumped the tiniest bit. "Yeah, okay. Well then, here's wishing us both luck." He flipped a lazy salute to his one-time commanding officer. "See you on the other side." With that, Ed stepped forward and dropped into the glistening portal in the floor of the basement. It flashed and flared and sizzled, then went out, and everything went dark.

**_End_**

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**AN: Short, I know, but I hope you liked it. Please leave any comments you might have! Also, even if you don't like it, or want to flame pointless tiny one shots, please leave a way for me to get back to you. I like to be able to share my points of view, too. :) Thanks!**

**-BH**


End file.
